Monochrome
by NotAProject
Summary: "What does it mean that I can't see color, Teacher?" Maka asked. Her teacher looked pained. "It means…you don't have a soul mate." "Miss Marie, what's a soul mate?" "It's someone you're supposed to spend your life with, honey," she said sadly. Maka Albarn was born without a soul mate. It's a part of her life, so she just can't wrap her mind around it when she wakes up in color.


AN: So this is a fic that popped into my head when I looked up writing prompts and found one that said, "Everyone has a soul mate, and when your soul mate dies, everything turns black and white. You were born into a world that's black and white, and have resigned yourself to it, until one day you wake up and the world is in color." I thought about what fandom to write it for, then thought Soul Eater is best because it has the word "soul" in it. (Yes, I'm that unoriginal.) So, I present to you the first fic I've written from a prompt. Please enjoy and I'd really appreciate some feedback!

Monochrome

"Mama?"

"Yes dear? What is it?"

"Teacher says something's wrong with me."

"What? What do you mean, sweetie?"

"Mama…I don't see in color."

That was it. The beginning of the end of her world. Maka Albarn was only five years old when she realized that seeing the world in black and white was abnormal. The teacher had pointed it out, and of course she told her mother about it.

Now, at age fourteen, she was at peace with what happened to her. Children in elementary school had teased her relentlessly.

_"What does it mean that I can't see color, Teacher?" Maka asked._

_ Her teacher looked pained. "It means…you don't have a soul mate."_

_ "Miss Marie, what's a soul mate?"_

_ "It's someone you're supposed to spend your life with, honey," she said sadly._

_ Maka thought for a minute. "Like, a boy?"_

_ "Well, yes, usually it's a boy for most girls."_

_ Maka crinkled her nose. "I don't wanna spend my life with a boy anyway! They're gross!"_

_ Miss Marie smiled, but there was still sadness in her expression. "Yes, of course."_

_"Maka's a loner, Maka's a loner," the other children chanted._

_ "Stop it! Stop it!" she protested as they tugged on her pigtails._

_ "Maka's a loner, Maka's a loner!"_

_ "Did you hear? Maka Albarn doesn't have a soul mate! The girl was born without a single color visible to her," she'd hear on the streets and around family friends and coworkers of her mother._

_ "Oh, the poor, pitiful girl!"_

_ "Maka's a loner, Maka's a loner!"_

_ "Shut up! Shut up! Stop it!" Maka cried._

And thus was her childhood. She still had to put up with the occasional pitied look or teasing remark, but she was used to them. She'd stopped believing in soul mates when her mother left, anyway.

"A normal soul appears in a bluish white color, as shown in diagram 5.3. Maka, please tell us what color the soul shown in diagram 5.4 is," Sid called.

Maka sighed. She stared intently at the gray page, the nearly black blob representing a soul standing out clearly. It was a dark color, certainly. Red? Black? Purple? She couldn't tell. She took a guess. "…Purple?"

A few people snickered.

"Um, close, it's red," Sid said, confused.

Maka made sure she didn't tell anybody that she couldn't see colors, which made it awkward in class sometimes. Even Sid didn't know. Maka sighed and hid her face with the book. If it got out that she couldn't see color, her life would be hell all over again. She mindlessly followed along as Sid finished summing up the chapter. As the bell rang, she packed her bag and headed home.

In the hallway, she bumped into a kid who wasn't paying attention to where he was going.

"Watchit," he growled.

Maka was about to retort when she saw the look in his eye. She stood up straighter. "You watch it."

He stared after her in surprise. Most girls didn't react like that.

* * *

Maka opened her eyes sleepily, glancing at her clock. She closed them again right away. Only two minutes until her alarm went off, and she didn't want to get up yet. When her two minutes were up, she slapped the clock to turn it off. She opened her eyes groggily, and something seemed different. Wrong. Too bright.

"What the hell!?" Maka yelled as she sat up, her pillow getting smushed into the wall and her blanket falling off the other side. She looked at her walls, her floor, her hands, her bed. Everything was too bright.

Everything was in color.

Everything was different.

Everything was new.

Maka jumped up and looked out her window. The previously gray sun was bright and laughing, the streets an insane mix of color and noise and movement, even this early. Tears welled up in her eyes. She could really see color.

She darted out of the room, but caught a glance of something she'd hardly noticed before. The mirror in her room reflected a familiar shape, but with all new meaning and color. She never knew what green looked like. She never knew what blond was. She never knew skin was so…what's it called? Pinkish? Maka shook her head. She needed to get going. She couldn't wait to learn all this new information. While she did have a vague understanding of which color was which based on its hue, she would have trouble recognizing them for a while yet.

Assuming this lasted, of course. It may have been a fluke.

Maka shook her head. She couldn't think like that. Then another realization hit her like a wave of ice.

Somewhere out there, she had a soul mate.

* * *

She barely got into her seat as the bell rang. She eagerly scanned the crowd to take in all the different hues and tints of everyone's skin, hair, clothing, eyes. Though she knew the thought was unrealistic, she was secretly hoping to spot her soul mate among them. It was impossible for him to have just been born this morning. He'd be far too young for her. Logically, that meant he was somewhere out there, hopefully around her age, maybe even at the academy. She shook her head. She couldn't afford to get her hopes up like that.

Maka squirmed in her seat the whole day, excitedly glancing all over the place. When the last bell of the day finally rang, she gathered her items and prepared to escape, but on the way Sid stopped her.

"Maka."

"Yes?" She made a desperate attempt to hide her irritation.

"I have one quick question for you."

"What is it Professor?"

He held up a picture in the textbook of a witch's soul. "What color is this?"

Maka concentrated for a moment, and the name of it popped into her head. "It's light purple, Professor."

Sid was visibly relieved. "I see. Thank you. You may go now. Enjoy your weekend."

"Thanks, Professor! You too!" She bolted from the room.

She ended up at a park, admiring the greens of the leaves. "They're beautiful," she breathed.

She bumped into something unexpectedly.

"Whatchit!" a familiar voice grumbled.

"No way," she mumbled as she turned around. His eyes were as wide as hers were. It was that kid she'd bumped into the day before. She couldn't miss him. He had bright white hair (though he looked like he couldn't have been any older than her), gleaming red eyes, and teeth sharpened to a point, each and every one. And his annoying slouch was ticking her off already for some reason. She really wanted to fix it.

"You again?" they said in sync. Maka shuddered.

"Are you following me?" she demanded.

"Why would I follow you?" he growled.

"Well, I don't know for sure. You could be some creepy stalker, for all I know."

"Huh? Don't be stupid. Why the hell would I stalk someone with your flat chest?"

"Wha—Hey! Listen up, jerk, I don't know who you are, but just leave me alone, okay?"

"Right back at'cha. See ya, psycho," he said over his shoulder as he turned to walk away.

Maka completely lost her temper. She ran over in front of him to prevent his escape. "I'm not a psycho!"

"Whatever. I don't care. Getting all worked up over nothing isn't cool," he drawled in monotone. He started to pass her.

"Hey!" Maka reached out and grabbed his wrist.

They both froze. Maka normally wore gloves, but they were gone because of the incredible heat. As they made direct contact, everything became sharper, clearer, more vibrant. Maka heard her own pulse in her ears. But even louder than that was his heartbeat, pounding in perfect harmony with her own. She could feel his blood in his wrist, both of their heartbeats accelerating in tandem.

He slowly turned to face her. She didn't see him as a random, rude jerk anymore. She saw all his good qualities, all the things she couldn't possibly know about him but did. She saw glimpses of his past, allowing her to understand him on a profound level, yet completely unaware of how she knew. He must've had a similar insight into her mind, as they just stood there, dumbstruck, gaping at each other for what seemed an eternity.

Painfully slowly, they drew closer to each other, until they were embracing. His arms gently slipped around her. His slouch vanished, and as he rose to his full height, she had to look up at him. He leaned in, and she met him halfway.

The kiss was quick, but it was a first for both of them.

"Soul."

"Maka."

They gazed into each other's eyes, their hearts still perfectly synchronized.

"You're my soul mate," they breathed.

The fog cleared from their eyes. As they regained their senses, Maka jumped back from his arms. "What just—? How'd you know my name…?"

He stared at her in shock, his composure completely lost. He shook his head. "I don't know. How'd you know mine?"

She blinked. "I don't know…"

"If…you're my soul mate," he said slowly.

"Yeah?"

"Then my being able to see color suddenly wasn't just a fluke?" He stared up at the trees in wonderment.

"You…You were colorblind too?" Maka questioned.

He nodded. "My whole life, until this morning."

"Me too," she confessed.

"What happened to us? We can't just suddenly become soul mates, right?"

"But I think we did."

"Soul mates. In short, two people whose soul wavelengths are incredibly similar from birth. Being in a close proximity to the other can improve certain aspects of the person's very being, such as the ability to see color. A common misconception about this natural phenomenon is that soul wavelengths never shift, therefore no one can ever change who their soul mate is or gain one if they don't have one or if that previous partner is lost."

A tall man sauntered out from behind the tree as he spoke. He had a crooked smile, glasses, and a cigarette hanging from his mouth. His clothing looked sewn together in an odd way, with all the seams showing.

"Who're you?" Maka asked uncertainly.

"Don't worry about that. I thought you wanted an answer to your question. What you two just experienced was the typical feeling two soul mates feel when they come into contact for the first time. You were in a form of soul resonance just now." His creepy smile stretched a little further. "You're fortunate. Most people don't find their soul mate until much later in their lives."

"How long did it take us to meet, Stein?" asked a woman who seemed to materialize beside the tree. She approached the strange man slowly. An equally disturbing smile was fixed on her face. "I think it was about twenty years. Though, had they been older, their reaction would've been…far more than just a kiss, most likely."

The man put his arm around her. "Like ours was, Medusa?"

The woman laughed. "Yes, like that."

Soul raised an eyebrow, and Maka grimaced. "Uh, what?"

"Oh, don't mind our banter. The point is, you've found your soul mate," the woman said kindly, though her expression was still deeply unsettling.

Maka and Soul looked to each other for confirmation that these two were just crazy.

"Um, right. Thanks for the insight. We'll be going now," Maka said as politely as she could manage. "Come on, Soul."

She grabbed his hand and hauled him away. It still disturbed her that she could hear his heartbeat so clearly. She shook her head and kept walking.

"Stein and Medusa, huh?" Soul mumbled.

"What?" Maka asked without slowing down.

"Those two weirdos. The guy's name was Stein and the woman was Medusa."

"Oh, right. Does that really matter right now?" Maka asked impatiently.

"Well, they sounded like they knew what they were talking about," he pointed out hesitantly.

Her pace slowed a little. "Uh-huh. What's your point?"

"Um, maybe we really—"

"No." She spun to face him, halting their progress. "We are not soul mates. I don't have a soul mate. I never have and never will. That's why I was born color blind!" Maka's eyes stung, and soon she was a sobbing mess. "I came to terms with that, so why do I have a soul mate now?"

"Didn't that guy say something about—"

"I don't care what that guy said! It isn't possible for us to just suddenly become soul mates! It just isn't!"

"Maka, listen to me!" He grabbed her shoulders to make sure she was paying attention.

She stared at him pathetically.

"If our soul wavelengths lined up, then we are soul mates, whether we like it or not. We…have to accept that."

Maka still didn't understand anything. And how could Soul be so calm about it? She didn't have time to contemplate it, because the strange feeling began to cloud her thoughts again. Before she could process it, Soul had pulled her into his arms again. She let her arms wrap around him, and she suddenly didn't care how they became soul mates. All that mattered was that he was here now, and they needed each other.

"Soul," she whispered.

"What is it?" he answered equally quietly.

"I think I get it now."

He squeezed her tighter. "Me too."

Epilogue

It would be many years before they would truly give into their feelings, though. There would be times when they'd have to lean on each other for support, times when they'd fight, times when they wanted nothing more than to simply be alone. But through it all they stayed together. They became weapon and meister, and they were hardly ever apart. Finally, after having known each other for almost ten years, Soul got up the courage to propose to her. Unbeknownst to him, she'd just gotten up the nerve to do the same.

Regardless of who asked whom, they did get married. They had children, and they grew old together. Even when they were old and withered, when their hands touched, Maka could still hear his heartbeat, loud and clear.

"Soul," she whispered.

"What is it?"

"I think I get it now."

He squeezed her hand. "Me too."

"I love you. You're my soul mate," they whispered together.


End file.
